Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-05-01
BULWER'S WEE.
ssoTHrR STIRRING UP or AN OLD
SCANDAL.
The Biography Of Lady Lytton and Her
"vindication "-The Eovelist's Por-
trait Painted Anew.

lie lODuOu ot. ohHtt" pN-ct.t tunS
spceks OF new publication OF painful
interest It is the Lille OF Rosina.
Lady L,tion Published in Vindication
of Her Memory" The biographer is
her ladyship's literary executor, Miss
! ouisa Dewey. The following is brief
Indication of the character OF the work.
ulich extends to 400 pages The book
o,,.ns with an interesting account OF
siiss Whcelef's early life and sur
fcurdings. She first met Bnlwer ut
he house Of Miss Benger in
iSe,. and was struck Ivy his dandi-
fed appearance. " he had Just
nturpod from Paris. and was resplen-
dIt with French polish, SO lar as boots
Wtnt. His cobweb cambria shirt-front
was a triumph Of lace and embroidery,
combination never seen in this cOun-
try till six or seven years later, except
on babies frocks. Studs, too, except
in racing stables, were then non est;
but perfect galaxy glittered along the
milky way down the centre of this
fairy-lik lingerie. His hair, which
was really golden, glitteringly gold
en- and abundant, he wore lite
rally in long ringlets that almost
reached bis shoulders. Miss Wheeler
did not fall so deeply in love
with Bulwer as he apparently did with
her. At all events he paid her o large
number Of very inflated compliments.
The end of 1t was that, after Miss
Wheeler had twice refused him, they
were married in August, 1927. It is
alleged in this book that she brought
her husband $500 year but there is
admittedly some doubt on the point. 1t
ia also mentioned that she was only six
months oldcrthan he; although he after
ward succeeded in inducing numbers
OF his friends to believe that he had
thrown himself away in boyhood upon
q woman almost old enough TO be his
mother" The first incident" of the
married life occurs about ten months
after the wedding, "nearly a month
before the birth of her daughter. "
Mrs. Bulwer "was in the constant
habit of assisting her husband as much
as possible in his literary labors,
and on that occasion had been
helping him by getting down
books from library shelves. Worn out
ard exhausted one evening, she had
lain down on the sofa. when her lord
and master ordered her to hand down
another volume and for that purpose to
mount q stcp-ladder. Really. Ed
ward. she said. Il cannot do more, l
am so tired In q sudden fit of fury
he sprang to his feet and kicked her in
the side with such savage violence that
size tainted from the pain" When
the baby was born he put it out to
nurse. "lest it should interfere with his
domestic arrangements. In his elegant
rhiaeeology, he declined to allow his
WIGS time to be taken up by any
ID child" Mrs. Bulwer's maid at
This time, and down to 1915, was Miss
lyme; and deposition of hers i
printed, in which itisstated that Bulwer,
in one OF his brutal RACES. kicked
and Hanged horlsdyship about the stone
GoCr I'll she was black and blue" and
fuitlCr, that on one occasion, while
they we're dining together, :" he
seized q carving knife and rushed at
his wife, when she cried out !:
For Gods sake, Edward, take care
what you are about when he dropped
the knife, and, springing on her like a
tiger, made his teeth meetin her left
check" 1t does not appear that Miss
Bylnc, or, indeed, any one except Bnl-
Wcr and his wife, were present when
this happened, and the story rests,
Therefore, upon the evidence of Mrs.
Eulw,r herself Her record OF this
and other incidents. by the way, is in
the somewhat curious form of series
Of letters addressed by "the shade of
Lord Byron to the "rising and risen
male generation of Great Britain, in
which it is Rulwer who speaks, in Ian
cuage put into his month 10y his wife.
in consequence Of the carving-knife
episCdo a separation was talked about.
Tut It did not take place till some time
aite1vard. in the spring of 1885 Bull
wer took chambers for himself in the
Albany, and placed his wife and chill
dren at Berrymead Priory, Acton. At
Heriymcad Mrs. Bulwer kept a journal,
from which cOpious extracts are given.
They are very depressing reading.
TIE loneliness in which Bulwer left
Ter engendeIcd 4 morbid frame of
mind. The journal is curious mix
ture Of forced gayety and gloomy com
rlaiuings, with an uuder-current OF
confirmed cynicism. The end OF it is
quite tiagic:
January 7th.-Too i'll to write.
February 20th.-My jailer returned
with Lis amiable epicurian de6aachf
friend. Mr.. +. V, after iiye-weeks'
absence and i'll rs | have been, too,
he could not be here one day alone.
: March 1st.-From crying, coughing,
and violent agitation, L have burst a
small blood-vessel. Oh, my God my
God when will You take me
Very soon GlteIward the final rupture
took place. Bulwer had promised to
dine with his wife one evening at Berry
mead. But at 9 o'clock message ar
rived that he was very i'll and quite un-
able to leave his chambers. Mrs. Bull
wer Immediately started for London,
and surprised him under circumstances
which resulted in n formal sepa-
ration. The deed, which is printed
in iull, gives Mrs. Bulwer 600
year for herself during Bulwer's
lie ord $50 each for her two children
so long as Eulwer "shall consent that
each such child" should remain with
Der. II 1T this time, as is alleged, Bull
wer's income was $1,000 to ca, 600 a
year, these allowances were certainly
rot txtravagant. His wife speaks of
the deed as UNANIMOUSLY one-sided, }"
and great blame is laid on her trustees,
Sir francis Hastings Doyle and Sir L.
G. Cullum. On June II, 1886, Mrs.
Eulver, with her children, quilted Ber-
rymoGd forever.
Now begins the most painful part OF
the story. For nearly forty-six years
was this unhappy lady condemned to
protract her weary and joyless exist
ence," perpetually harried by creditors
and pursued by the relentless persecu-
ton Of her husband. The ESQ year
would have been little enough if it had
been Regularly paid, but it was not.
We take the statements of the book
without inquiring into their credi-
bility.) But that was not the
worst. Through the agency of q
false friend the affection of her
children for Mrs. Bulwer was under